by D. P. Sloan
What was it that Army guy said again?
A virus escaped into the air and somewhat mixed with the rain from the storm causing this outbreak. Gregg told her that he saw people eating other people. His mum attacked him wanting to eat him as well!
Katy needed to know more. She WANTED to know more but she would just have to wait. She knew right now that she was certainly going to tell the rest of the students.
She waited until the coast was clear then silently snuck back out of the curtain and down the stage steps and joined her school mates.
“Guys I’ve got something to tell you,” she said angry yet excited at the same time as she joined her mates.
They all turned as she filled them in.
“What the Hell!?!” Lee-Ann muttered, “You mean the teachers are holding things back from us?” She shook her head then continued, “No chance I’m not sitting here waiting until those…..those things come crashing through our crappy wooden defence to – well eat us!”
“I agree with you,” Charlene chirped up. “I mean the teachers keeping that from us. Sending us to get tools and wood from the woodwork department. Watching us as we kill or sever arms and heads. Granted we all stood back and watched Adam as he was slaughtered but I blame the teachers more than anything!”
“Well I’m not staying here waiting to be food for those things, whatever they are. As soon as the teachers have turned their back, I’m out of this assembly hall and down the corridor to the main fire exit,” Lee-Ann told them all.
“Lee,” Katy began, “remember the crash from the hall? We don’t even know if the rest of the school has the dead roaming the halls. If they are out there then….it’s not even worth thinking about!”
“Listen Katy,” Lee-Ann replied, “I’d rather take my chances. So, who’s with me?”
Silence fell at first then nodding of heads began starting with Charlene, “I’m with you Lee.”
At least five of Katy’s school mates agreed to go with her. Katy then told the group, “Listen I’ll stay here and distract the teachers and that’ll give you plenty of time to get out of the assembly hall.”
Lee-Ann nodded, “Oh what about the rest of the pupils?”
“Well I’m guessing it’ll be an all-out yelling match between teachers and pupils,” Katy began, “But you know what they’ve hid this from us. God knows what else they have hidden from us and not forgetting what I told you what I heard. I mean the army! This crap is way out of hand in here and out there.”
“Well I am not hanging around here anymore,” Charlene cut in, “When do we make our move?”
Lee-Ann looked over at the teachers then turned back to them all, “let’s do it just after 5AM.”
Everyone nodded.
“Let’s just for right now do what we have been doing,” Katy told them all.
They all nodded again.
CHAPTER 17
DECEMBER 11TH – 0300 HOURS
ATTACK OF THE DEAD
Resting in the plant room of the glass building sat Colin, Marie and Tam. Sleeping away the hours and minutes and seconds from escaping Glasgow and whatever has happened to it. Michaels was out on the roof walking round the Air Conditioner Units, the storm had stopped completely and the sun was out shining down on the city centre. On top of the building was silence and was peaceful but down on ground level – was literally Hell.
Michaels peered over the edge of the roof staring down, staring down at the hoard of the dead banging on the windows of the building. They had surrounded it, trying to get into the building, banging their hands, their feet and their heads. Moaning and screaming only one word, “Foooooooooooodddddddddd.’ Michaels looked up and scanned the skyline of the once busy city centre, a city like New York.
A city that never slept…..until now. Michaels watched as flames engulfed the Hilton hotel, cars were left smashed up at sides of the road.
Glasgow was just not Glasgow anymore.
He turned his attention back to looking over the side and down to the ground below all that remained was the dead walking below him and the survivors in the room to his left. He vowed as a police officer to protect the public and as he said to them before he was going to protect them and get them out of Glasgow. He watched as the big seven-foot-tall dead guy that he battled earlier, push passed the rest of the undead and simply raised his arms and started beaten on the glass. Michaels knew it wouldn’t be long before the glass of the building started to break.
Then it happened – an almighty crash from below. Michaels watched as the undead broke through the main entrance windows, piling through into the reception area. Michaels wasted no time in wakening the others up.
“Right guys,” he shouted, “it’s time!”
The other survivors all jumped at his voice.
“Tam,” Michaels began, “is there another way down to the basement car park?”
“Emmmmm,” Tam began, “we’ve got the front stairs, the elevators and the back stairs. The back stairs are only accessible via the ninth and eighth floors, there is a door at the back of the offices that’ll take you to the back stairs and down those stairs it’ll take you to a fire exit which leads to the back lane.”
“Do you have access to the ninth floor?” Michaels asked.
Tam just nodded.
“Well we better get moving people because those undead bastards are now in the building, so we go now.”
Michaels opened the plant room door and stepped out followed closely by the rest of the group. Michaels walked down the stairs and stopped dead in his tracks, he put his hand up to stop the rest of the group in their tracks. He then looked over the banister and saw a group of the dead clamber up the staircase groaning and moaning.
“Right move, move, MOVE!” Michaels yelled, “into floor 9 quickly!”
As they all made their way down onto the ninth floor and before they even entered the lift lobby area. Michaels halted them again as the elevator bell sounded as the lift opened. There tumbling and shambling out of the lift was another bunch of dead walkers. They couldn’t get into floor nine offices and they couldn’t get down the full staircase.
“The only way is up!” Michaels yelled, “MOVE! NOW!”
They all ran up the stairs and back into the plant room as the dead followed them climbing three steps at a time screaming and shouting for food.
Michaels shut the door turned and scanned the room one more time. Too his right was a few machines that he wasn’t sure what they did. Across from the machines was a shelf that contained twisted metal pieces. Michaels then looked forward and just to the left was a desk containing a PC and a single door at the end of the passage.
“Where does that door lead to Tam?” Michaels asked pointing to the faraway door.
“That’s just a sink in there nothing else. We are officially trapped up here now!” Tam answered, scared witless.
Colin muttered, “I don’t want to die!”
While Marie just started crying uncontrollably.
Michaels shook his head; “Nope my life is not ending on top of this building!” he looked about again, “Colin grab that rope over there on the shelf.”
Colin retrieved the rope.
“What’s this for?” Michaels turned to Tam while examining the rope.
“It’s the exterior window cleaning boys’ abseiling gear,” Tam responded.
Michaels smiled, “Well guys. We are going abseiling!”
He turned and opened the roof door and walked out onto the roof once again, “Quick follow me if you want to live!”
The group followed him as Colin closed over the door to the roof, he could hear the dead almost close to them.
Michaels walked forward then to his right, then he stepped over a cable trail to his left and ducked under a safety barrier. “Tam tie this end of this rope to that metal hook there. Tie it real tightly.”
Tam nodded and done exactly what the officer said. Once secured he nodded to Michaels.
“Time to go abseili
ng!” Michaels exclaimed as he threw the other end of the rope over the side of the building. “Right Marie, you first.”
Marie stepped forward and looked down and instantly felt dizzy. “I don’t think I can do this Ryan!”
“Look at me Marie,” Michaels began, “Look at me!” Marie turned and stared into Michaels eyes, tears forming at the side of her eyes. “You can do this. You hold on tight and you climb down. Never look down. The least you’ll get will be rope burns on your hands. But see that car over there in the corner? That Jeep? We are going for that. Then we will get down to street level and get the fuck away from this place. Okay? Remember Marie I’m here for you. I swore I would protect the public when I had this uniform on, and by God I’m going to fulfil that honour.”
Marie breathed deeply and grabbed the rope and eased herself over the side. She looked at Michaels once more and he just nodded and smiled at her.
Marie eased herself down bit by bit as Michaels held onto the rope above her.
“Eh guys don’t mean to alarm you but those fuckers are in the plant room now!” Tam shouted.
Colin turned to him, “How do you know?”
Tam looked at him then at the roof door, “Scrap that. They are coming onto the roof!”
Colin peered over the side at Marie, “Come on Marie hurry the fuck up will you!”
Michaels looked at him in anger, “Colin move back will you!”
Colin decided not to listen to the officer but instead grabbed hold of the rope, “I’m not going to become dinner for those fuckers.”
A fight began over the rope between Michaels and Colin and the rope began to swing back and forward, from side to side while Marie screamed.
“Just let me on the rope!” Colin said through gritted teeth.
“Colin let go the rope please!” Marie shouted up to the two men.
More struggling and that’s when disaster happened. As Marie swung back and forward and side to side, banging on the side of the building – she began to lose grip of the rope. Panic set in as Marie looked down, down to some twenty feet drop below her onto the multi-storey car park. Tears formed in her eyes. “I……I can’t hold on! Please stop now!!!”
Colin pushed the officer again and this time Michaels let go of the rope. As he did that, both he and Colin watched as Marie fell down the twenty feet to her death, splattering on the top floor of the Q Park garage.
Colin’s eyes went wide with fright and he put his hands to the back of his head as he watched a colleague of the building lie there amongst her blood. A broken and bloodied body.
“Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit!” Colin said over and over again.
“Eh guys?” Tam cut in. “Guys we got to go now!”
Both Michaels and Colin looked over at the roof door to see more and more undead coming piling through it.
“The only way is down!” Colin yelled as he grabbed a hold of the abseiling rope and jumped over the side, shimming down the side of the building until his feet touched the concrete ground of the car park.
Michaels breathed deeply and was angry at the tech guy as he signalled for the security officer to go next.
“No need to tell me twice!” Tam responded by grabbing hold of the rope just as the hoard of the dead clambered over the railing towards both of them.
Michaels eyes shot wide open as the decaying corpses that once were humans shot their hands out towards him and began to try and grab him. Before Michaels knew it, he was over the side of the building sliding down. Down the rope and touching both feet onto the ground. Tam had already made it down and was heading over to the car in the faraway corner where Colin was standing. Michaels looked upwards and saw the dead start to fall over the side of the building, down towards him. He breathed deeply, looked at Marie’s body and then sprinted for the car.
“Get in! Get in NOW!” the officer screamed at the other two survivors. As both of them turned and smashed the side windows and opened the doors. Michaels sprinted fast over to the car, Colin unlocked the drivers’ door and Michaels jumped in. Pulled the wires from underneath the dashboard and then put two of the wires together.
The engine kicked in as the dead got closer and Michaels began to pull away, ploughing directly into three of the undead as they stood in his path to the ramp down to the street. The dead were squashed and ran over as the car pulled to the left and down the ramp to the next level, then down again and again until they hit the exit and pulled onto Waterloo Street, they surveyed the damage caused to the building and looked through the rear-view mirrors as the undead came pouring out of the car park.
Michaels floored the car and turned down Douglas Street, down the one-way street and pulled onto Argyle Street. Then he pulled over the car.
“Why are we stopping?” Colin asked from the front passenger seat.
Michaels looked at him, raised a fist and punched him directly in the face, “You fucking inconsiderate arsehole.” He punched him again and then popped open the door and pushed the sorry excuse for a human out of the car. “Enjoy being feasted on dickhead!” He closed the door and pulled away just as the dead appeared and surrounded Colin.
Colin screamed in agony as the dead tore into his body, delving deep into his stomach, pulling out his organs, feasting on his intestines. With every last breath, he screamed and screamed as the dead tore his limbs off eating them in front of him. Then they tore at his head, ripping open his skull and feasting on his brains.
A fitting death Michaels thought. A death that probably Marie would have been proud of. Michaels sped along to the apartment complex where he stayed and pulled over.
“Tam,” he turned to the security officer, “keep the car running. I’m going to run in there and get my family and then get the fuck out of there as soon as possible.”
Tam nodded and Michaels exited the car. He walked over to the front door of the complex and swiped his key fob to gain access to the foyer. On entering, he felt the eeriness of the once vibrant place. Instead of taking the elevator he took the flight of stairs two at a time as he neared the first-floor landing, he came across total carnage. The floor was wrecked; blood, guts and various body parts lay strewn across the place. Michaels stepped in between the limbs, and dodged the skin and blood. Down the corridor at the far end, screams echoed loud and he knew it was either humans screaming in horror or the undead feasting on another unfortunate soul.
He stopped outside his apartment, fumbled for his front door keys and opened the door. Entering he closed the door and called to his wife, “Michelle its Ryan where are you honey?”
He walked along the small narrow hallway and peered into each room as he walked by.
“Max? Maddie? Its dad. Where are you hiding?”
He walked into the living room. The place wasn’t a mess. Everything was in its place, tidy as always just the way Michelle kept the home.
“Michelle? Max-a-million? Mads? Its dad come on guys we got to get out of here now!” Michaels shouted. Beginning to get a bit worried.
Then he heard a noise, almost like a squeak coming from the hallway. He turned around and walked slowly back out into the hallway. Listening for the noise again. Walking slowly, inch by inch by inch by inch down the hallway.
Then out of nowhere the front door burst open. There standing in the first morning sun was his wife and his kids.
“Ryan – RUN!” Michelle yelled, “Now!!!”
Bewildered Michaels mouthed the word, “what?”
Michelle looked at him dead in the eye and fear in her voice, “RUN!!!!”
Without hesitation, Ryan started sprinting. He didn’t know why, he just did it. Just as he about passed the bathroom, the door burst open and an undead man in a Royal Mail uniform lunged at him.
The face all ripped and skin hanging by a thread. The once healthy hands now bony and decaying rapidly. The teeth yellow and blood stained as he growled and groaned as he neared Michaels face.
“Arghhhhhh, fuck fuck fuck!” Michaels screamed. “Get the fuck off
me!”
He tried holding the undead creature away from him, before fumbling in his trouser pocket for his keys. He manoeuvred the Yale key in between his fingers and raised it above the undead head before stabbing it into the top of the head until it pierced the skin, skull and finally after numerous hits, the keys punctured the dead guy’s brain. Within seconds the arms of the Royal Mail worker dropped to his sides, the mouth stopped trying to bite Michaels and then he fell to the ground.
Michaels breathed deeply, a sigh of relief washed over him. He looked down at the postman then looked up at his wife and kids, before racing over to them and hugging all three of them.
“Let’s get out of here now,” Michaels told his family. They turned and started walking back down the corridor to the stairs.
“Where were you hiding babe?” Michaels turned to his wife while ruffling his son’s hair and smiling at his daughter.
“We hid in the bike shed and when we heard you shout we came out to try and stop you going into the flat.” Michelle told him.
“How the Hell did the postman end up in the toilet in our house honey?” Michaels asked.
“Well the doorbell went,” Michelle began, “I thought with what was happening out there that it was one of our neighbours looking to get in and hid. I forgot to look through the peep-hole and just opened the door. The guy just lurched at me, toppling me over. He was on me trying to tear my flesh like what he was trying to do to you. If it wasn’t for my two little heroes here, whacking the guy until he got back to a standing position and then pushing him backwards into the bathroom. I think I would be dead now.”
Michaels smiled at both his children, “Proud of you both guys.”
“Just doing what we had to do dad,” Max told him.
“You taught us well,” Mads told her parents.
Both of which in return smiled at their kids. They walked down the stairs and swiped their fob to leave the building. The car was still running, but as they neared it. They knew something was wrong. Michaels told his family to stay back while he checked it out. Michaels walked slowly forward and peered in through the passenger window, there was no Tam. He looked in the back seat but nope still no Tam. He noticed the driver door was opened and decided to investigate. Turning to his family and signalled to them not to move until he deemed it safe. He walked round the front of the car and that’s when he saw the body of Tam lying on the ground face down with someone kneeling over him, eating the poor guys’ brains. A bloody rock lying next to him.